Story in USA Today

Airports play the name game to attract new business
By Barbara De Lollis, USA TODAY

Small airports across the USA have been renaming themselves to boost visibility and gain an edge on competitors. If you want to spend time at Lake Tahoe (either side), your best bet is to fly to Reno-Tahoe International Airport in Reno.

Take Stewart International Airport in Newburgh, N.Y., which is named after a local family. In May, it will become New York Hudson Valley International Airport. In making the change, airport officials convey proximity to both Hudson Valley recreation areas and New York City. The airport is about 70 miles from Midtown Manhattan. "Those are the two biggest marketing pluses that our airport has," says Newburgh airport executive Tanya Vanasse.

Says aviation consultant Robert Mann: "They're all looking for greater visibility and greater identity. If you take Stewart International, people say, 'Where the heck is that?' "
Among recent name changes:

•Rockford, Ill. The airport added Chicago — a city whose airport congestion is legendary — to its name in November: Chicago/Rockford International. It's 90 miles from Chicago.
Rockford convention bureau Chairman Bob Rhea says the change has drawn travelers. "It drives home the fact that it's near Chicago," he says. "Everyone knows where Chicago is."

•Savannah, Ga. About three years ago, the Savannah airport became the Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport. Almost half its passengers go to Hilton Head, S.C., where there's a smaller airport. Now, when people search Internet travel sites for Hilton Head and airport, the Savannah airport appears as an option.

Since the mid-1990s communities including Buffalo, Terre Haute, Ind., and Allentown, Pa., have changed airport names motivated by regional marketing. In July 2005, Nevada's Airport Authority of Washoe County became the Reno-Tahoe Airport Authority. It creates a closer match with its main airport, which adopted the Reno-Tahoe designation in the mid-1990s. It also gives the authority — in the words of its press release — "a name that resonates from Reno to Beijing and beyond."

Southwest Airlines spokesman Ed Stewart says in the New York Hudson Valley case, "it does make sense" to take a new name to convey location. The much-courted discount carrier doesn't currently fly to Newburgh, and Stewart wouldn't say if the name change would make a difference as Southwest looks for places to expand its route network.

Renaming airports is like renaming an established corporation, says advertising executive Mark Lieberman, of Interspace Airport Advertising. "You don't want a name that's parochial, convoluted or doesn't clearly communicate what the product delivers," Lieberman says.
Controversy sometimes accompanies the name changes.

In Newburgh, some local residents, including members of the Stewart family, have been vocal opponents. The new name will stand, but the passenger terminal will be renamed in honor of Archie Stewart, who donated land for the airport in 1930.